Since Qatar was chosen to host the 2022 World Cup, there has been mounting criticism in light of the country’s anti-LGBT laws. Doha received a very poor rating in the Open For Business 2022 Cities Report, a guide to which global cities are “open, inclusive and competitive”.
In a show of solidarity with LGBT communities in Qatar and elsewhere, several national football teams publicly demonstrated their support. Team USA unveiled a rainbow logo at their training centre while ten European teams participated in the ‘OneLove’ campaign launched by the Netherlands Football Association.
In response to criticism, Qatari officials announced that “everyone is welcome in Qatar” and that as host country, it is committed to an inclusive event. While the Qatari authorities extended a symbolic gesture for the event, a lot more needs to be done to advance protection for LGBT people.
Business as usual?
The World Cup is an opportunity for global companies to highlight the plight of LGBT people in the region and around the world. Despite the backlash from LGBT advocates and their allies, business support for this event continued. The FIFA list of commercial partners includes Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa. All three companies scored 100% in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index 2022.
With 1.5 million visitors expected in Qatar for the World Cup, many more regional and global companies will reap the long-term benefits of the event. They include hotels, airlines, retail stores and restaurants operating in the country.
However, many companies have been silent, perhaps after having been given political cover by the FIFA President when he demanded that the world “focus on the football” and “let football take center stage”. This public repudiation was followed by a prohibition on wearing the OneLove armband that was designed to promote inclusion in sports.
Companies that operate globally can exert their economic influence and resources to improve the lives of LGBT people in hostile countries.
There are bold corporate champions. Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic flew the German and English soccer teams to Doha on aircrafts painted with Pride liveries. Their courage set a high bar for businesses. What other companies do next is important, not only for their own brands, but for the moral imperative. About 70 countries, including Qatar, criminalize consensual same-sex activities.
Companies that operate globally can exert their economic influence and resources to improve the lives of LGBT people in hostile countries. Some of these countries host international events such as Formula 1 races, profiting from the economic benefits of the big business of sports and entertainment.
Where there is a will, there is a way
If boycotts and protests are considered extreme measures that are not corporate-like, there are ways companies can advance legal protections for LGBT people. Companies can utilize their corporate political resources to make the economic case for inclusion with government officials in the countries they operate.
As corporate sponsors and partners at the World Cup, companies have brand exposure at the stadium and around the city as well as access to hospitality events attended by world leaders and other government officials. They can use their access to raise the importance of protections for LGBT people.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has placed the spotlight on an important social issue. Companies can support the work of LGBT organizations in championing LGBT rights globally, and not only where it is convenient.
The time to punch above their weight is now.
Over 500 major companies in the United States have joined the Human Rights Campaign’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act. The time to punch above their weight is now – not in 2026 when Canada, Mexico and the United States host the next World Cup.
Can a global company be true to its corporate social responsibility commitments when they do nothing to protect their LGBT employees, suppliers, and customers everywhere? Companies have an ethical obligation to examine the human impact of turning a blind eye to homophobic laws.
Failing to act in support of LGBT people where help is needed most means global companies will have to justify whether their public support in western counties is rooted in their corporate values of inclusion, or risk criticism of pinkwashing.
This post gives the views of its author, not the position of ESCP Business School.
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